Ad offers advice to Oprah for Armstrong interview

January 12, 2013|Tribune report

An open letter to Oprah Winfrey with questions for Lance Armstrong appears in an ad in Sunday's Tribune. (Tribune)

Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong will sit down with Oprah Winfrey for an interview that will air next week, and if Oprah needs any help coming up with questions, the Sunday Times of London provided plenty in a large advertisement that appears in the sports section of Sunday's Chicago Tribune.

Armstrong, who was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles when he refused to defend himself against charges brought by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, reportedly will admit to doping throughout his career in the Winfrey interview. That would be of particular interest to the Sunday Times, which was successfully sued for libel by Armstrong in 2004. The paper now is suing Armstrong to recover nearly $1.5 million.

The ad presents 10 questions for Winfrey to ask Armstrong, who reportedly doesn't plan to offer much in the way of details. Among the questions are:

*After returning from cancer how did you justify putting banned drugs in your body?

*Did you have any sympathy for those rivals determined to race clean?

*Did you sue the Sunday Times to shut us up?

*Why have you chosen Oprah Winfrey for your first interview as a banned athlete?